The Lower Milford man has been charged with secretly taping several boys in his bathroom.

A Lower Milford Township man is now declaring his innocence after pleading guilty to secretly filming five foreign exchange and two other teenagers in his bathroom last year.

Michael S. Scheeler, 43, pleaded guilty in May to six felony counts of possession of child pornography and seven misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy. But Monday at his sentencing hearing — facing a maximum sentence of 44 years in prison — Scheeler and his attorney asked for the guilty plea to be withdrawn and move forward to trial.

Six of the victims were boys ages 16 or 17 and one was an 18-year-old man, Lehigh County Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Morffi has said.

In May, Scheeler admitted to filming the seven teens — four from Korea, one from Spain and two Americans — through hidden cameras in his bedroom and bathroom between March and November 2010.

Three of the Korean students were living with Scheeler and attending Faith Christian Academy in Sellersville, where the 43-year-old had worked as a volunteer. The four others were visiting the home, Morffi said.

The original plea deal ordered the minimum sentence to be no more than 10 years in prison. The maximum was no more than 44 years in prison.

Senior Judge Lawrence J. Brenner took the petition under advisement, and scheduled a follow-up hearing for Sept. 22. The prosecution also shared the results of the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which deemed Scheeler a violently sexual predator. This prompted Morffi to call for the revocation of Scheeler's bail, which Brenner agreed to. Scheeler had been free on $50,000 bail.

"I do find that he is a serious threat," Brenner said, as he ruled to revoke Scheeler's bail.

Scheeler, just before officers handcuffed him, disputed the judge's ruling.

"If I would have run, I would have done it already," he said.

Brenner will rule on the plea withdrawal and the sex offenders board's ruling at the September hearing. If Brenner agrees with the assessment, Scheeler will have to register his address under Megan's Law for life.

According to court documents, detectives found four cameras in Scheeler's bathroom and 57 DVDs that depicted Scheeler encouraging the boys to drink alcohol.

Authorities began investigating after one of the students said Scheeler showed him video on his laptop of one of the other students masturbating in the bathroom, according to court documents. The boy then made copies of several video files showing the students naked, undressing to get into the shower and drying off, police said.

After the boy showed the files to school officials, police were contacted and the students were removed from the home.